Silent Dream
by starlily16
Summary: Sometimes she could still hear the screams, the unadulterated cries of anguish that echoed throughout the little experimentation room. The Alliance was not the beacon of hope and progress it had claimed to be; it was nothing more than an illusion covering oppression and tyranny. And she knew right then: she would do anything in her power to stop them.
1. I Ain't Coming Back

A/N I probably shouldn't be starting another story when I just started updating again but I'm hoping the variety of writing for two different favorite shows of mine will keep me engaged and excited about writing. Anyways, here's my take on Firefly. Leave me a review of your thoughts/ideas/questions etc. I try to respond either in author's notes or dm's as much as I can so question away. Thanks!

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Katia Miller moved through the crowd quickly, trying not to draw attention to herself. Just being out in the open in a place like Persephone was tempting fate enough as it was. All she had were the clothes she was wearing, a few odds and ends in the bag thrown over her shoulder, and enough money to (hopefully) book passage on a ship. She didn't much care for the destination, she just needed to leave. Her dark brown hair covered her face as she walked through the crowd, decreasing her chances of being recognized, while her loose shirt and leggings tucked into brown boots were nondescript enough to let her pass under everyone's radar.

She wandered around lost in thought toward the docked ships. Katia noticed too late that her wanderings had led her into an alley a little ways off from the main hub. The quiet should've clued her in immediately, but it wasn't until she walked into something solid that she broke out of her thoughts. She looked up startled and met the eyes of the man in front of her. "Hello, little lady. What brings you to these parts," the man asked with a smirk as he ran his eyes over her body. The look in his eyes as he met hers again made Katia shiver in distaste. Katia replied, "Nothing, sorry. I was just leaving." Katia turned to walk away, but before she could, the man had grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to him. "Where do you think you're going? You know these parts ain't exactly safe for a young girl as pretty as you to go wandering around in by herself."

Katia scoffed at his statement. She muttered, "Thanks for your concern, but I can take care of myself." She tried to wrench her arm out of his grasp but her struggle was futile. The man tightened his hold and pulled her even closer to his body.

The man barked a malicious laugh at her statement. "Oh, a feisty one. You know," he leaned in closer and breathed in her ear, "I like it when they put up a fight."

A voice behind them said, "Then you're going to love me." The man was ripped away from Katia, the force of which caused her to stumble over her own feet and fall to the ground. She quickly looked up to see someone in a long brown coat punch the guy who had grabbed her, talking about manners and such. Katia was helped to her feet by a beautiful woman dressed in leather. She noticed another man standing behind her, though he seemed way more interested in the fight than he was about why it was happening. Soon, her assailant ran off and the man with the brown coat watched him leave before turning back around to look at Katia.

Katia realized that the two men and woman must be together which made her feel a bit outnumbered. She knew that they had just spent time saving her from who-knows-what, but it wasn't completely out of the realm of possibilities for them to be expecting something in return. Her savior walked towards her slowly. They scanned each other, trying to figure the other out. He soon stopped in front of her and asked, "Are you alright?"

Katia looked up in surprise. She was not expecting that. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little dirty but I'll be ok."

The man nodded. "Good." The two stood there awkwardly for a second, unsure of what to do next. The woman, who had moved behind him, cleared her throat. He turned and looked at her expectantly. The two had a silent conversation before he turned back to Katia. "Right. Well, I'm Captain Malcolm Reynolds, this is my first mate Zoe Washburne, and my uh, he's uh, that's Jayne Cobb."

Katia smiled, albeit a bit nervously. "I'm Katia Miller."

Mal stuck his hand out to shake hers which she gladly accepted. "Nice to meet you Katia."

Something he had said clicked in her mind as their hands separated. "Wait, did you say captain?"

Mal nodded. "Yup, I'm the captain."

Katia continued, "So you have a ship."

He responded more warily now, "Yeah."

"And you're leaving?"

"Yes."

"Are you taking passengers?"

Mal smiled slightly. "Can you pay?"

She hesitated briefly before responding. "Yeah."

Mal asked, "How much do you have?"

Katia countered, "How much do you want?"

Mal smirked slightly at her answer. "Where're you searchin' to go?" His smirk disappeared when she said, "As far from the Core as I can get."

After a moment's hesitation, Mal answered, "Well… I think we can work somethin' out. If you don't mind taggin' along, we got a few more supplies to stock up before we head back."

Katia said, "That's fine. Thanks." She shrugged her bag a bit higher on her shoulder and stepped back slightly, allowing Mal and the crew to walk past her.

Mal was a might conflicted about their new addition. Coming out of that meeting with Badger, he was definitely looking for a fight and this one practically fell into his lap. He's not quite paranoid enough to say it was set up, but her not namin' a destination was suspicious, not to mention her lack of specifics regarding payment. However, that didn't stop him from accepting what she had anyway. It wasn't chivalry so much as his deep, deep down need to help folks, and he could tell that she needed help. As they made their way through the market, Mal looked back at her often, whether it was to make sure she was still there or just to watch her, he didn't quite know himself. He could tell she looked uncomfortable though so he hurried them along best he could until they had what they needed.

Katia listened to them as they talked about their next move. They didn't seem to have any qualms about discussing their business in front of her, unless they forgot she was even there. They eventually made their way to a ship where a bubbly young woman was welcoming another man on board. He hurried on his way after a quick greeting from the girl. Mal indicated for Katia to stand next to him while Zoe and Jayne continued on. Mal was about to introduce Katia to the girl with the pair of buns on her head when a large crate was driven onto the ship. The trio looked up to see a man standing across from them, wearing round red glasses and looking decidedly out of place. Katia's eyes widened in recognition as she heard the man introduced as Simon; she studied his face to confirm his identity before quickly looking down. She knew he wouldn't recognize her, but her instinct was to curl in on herself for protection anyway. Simon made his way into the ship and Katia made to follow, giving him a wide berth until she heard the captain call out her name.

"Katia, this here is Kaylee, our mechanic. Kaylee, this is Katia. She's joining us for a spell."

Kaylee smiled widely and stuck a hand out enthusiastically. Katia grasped her hand and shook back. Kaylee's smile was infectious as she said, "It's nice to meet you Katia. Welcome aboard."

Katia smiled, "Thanks." Then everyone walked further inside the ship. Kaylee showed Katia to one of the guest compartments before leaving her to unpack. Katia still didn't know where they were going but she didn't mind. She was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was leaving. She might actually be able to run away from her problems for once and that made her instantly smile.

She stayed in her bunk while they took off. This wasn't Katia's first time flying, but she could never quite get used to the taking off and landing parts of the journey, although this one was smoother than most. Serenity must have a good pilot.

Mal walked past her room. He stuck his head in quickly to say, "There you are. Need you in the common area for a quick rundown of rules and such."

Katia nodded quickly, "Ok." She stood and followed Mal out with a small smile. Being off planet, floating through the black just made her feel so free. It's a feeling she couldn't truly describe, but she absolutely loved it.

Mal said, "Meals are taken up here in the dining area. Kitchen's pretty much self-explanatory, you're welcome to eat what there is any time. What there is is pretty standard fare I guess, protein in all the colors of the rainbow. We do have sit down meals, next one being at about 1800."

Kaylee said, "I think Shepherd Book has offered to help me prepare something."

Katia looked over at the kind looking older man standing across from her. Mal asked, "You're a shepherd?"

Book replied, "Thought the outfit gave it away. Is it a problem?"

Kaylee, trying to keep the mood light, said, "Of course not, it's not a problem cause it's not." Katia noticed that Mal wasn't quite as sure as Kaylee was, but he replied with a rather somber no before continuing, "As I said, you're welcome to visit the dining area any time. Apart from that, I have to ask you to stay in the passenger dorm while we're in the air. The bridge, engine room, cargo bay, they're all off limits without an escort."

Simon said, "Some of my personal effects are in the cargo bay." He seemed almost physically uncomfortable being away from his things.

"I figure y'all got luggage you're gonna need to get into, since we're done here, we'll be happy to fetch them with you," Mal replied. "Now, I have to tell y'all one other thing, and I apologize in advance for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, we've been ordered by the Alliance to drop some medical supplies off on Whitefall, fourth moon in Athens. It's a little out of our way, but we should have you on Boros no more than a day off schedule."

Katia's hopeful mood instantly soured at the mention of the Alliance. _If this ship takes orders from the Alliance, I'm not as safe as I thought. _

Matching her concern, Simon asked, "What medical supplies?"

Mal hesitated before replying, "I honestly didn't ask."

Zoe chimed in, "Probably plasma, insulin, whatever they ain't got enough of on the border moons."

"Alliance says jump."

Simon conceded, "Alright."

"Zoe, you wanna take em to the cargo bay?"

"Yes, sir."

Mal continued, "Anything else you need, just ask we uh, live to serve." Katia watched as the rest of the passengers followed Zoe back down to the cargo bay. She didn't have anything other than what was in her bunk already so she stayed in the common area, wandering around slowly to get a feel for the space.

She listened as Mal asked Wash, the pilot, "Send word to Patience?"

"Ain't heard back yet," Wash replied. "Didn't she shoot you one time?" Katia looked up quickly with wide eyes. Mal stopped at the doorway and said, "Everybody's makin a fuss." At that reply, she snorted. The captain quickly turned around and stared straight at Katia. From the widened eyes and slight twitch of his lips, she could tell that he had thought he and Wash were alone. He cleared his throat to try to ease the tension that had settled in the room then asked, "You don't need to get anything from cargo?"

Katia shook her head. "Nope, just got the one bag in my room."

"Oh." Mal stood awkwardly. Neither of them knew if they should talk about the conversation she had just heard or let it be. After a minute or so, Mal said, "Well, I think I'll head there anyway, make sure everything's taken care of."

"Alright," Katia said. Just as Mal was leaving the room, she called out, "Captain?" He paused and turned. "This mission isn't really Alliance, is it?" The sour look on his face made her instantly regret asking. He stormed over to her. Before he could say anything, she said, "Sorry, I just overheard your conversation with Wash, and Alliance don't generally send any old transport over to the outermoons with supplies. They don't care that much beyond the core. And I won't say anything to anyone else about it either way. Ain't none of my business. Sorry."

Before he could reply, Katia ducked around him and headed towards the bunks. Mal quickly shook his head before walking to the cargo bay. _That girl may prove to be more trouble than she's worth._


	2. I Cannot Stand

A/N Here's chapter 2 - I have a few more chapters already written that I'll definitely upload but may not keep writing if this story doesn't get a bit more traction. I won't withhold uploads for reviews or whatever because I hate when authors do that but I may not be able to invest time into a story that's not going anywhere. We'll see. I still love Firefly with all of my heart so that's probably an entirely empty threat anyway XD Let me know how you're feeling about Katia and any other suggestions/comments/questions you may have for the series. Thanks for reading!

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After all of the passengers grabbed whatever they needed from the cargo bay and got settled, the whole ship gathered for dinner in the common area. Katia found herself sitting in between the Captain, who actively avoided her gaze, and Jayne, who actively tried to catch it with what she assumed was supposed to be a suggestive smirk.

Katia tried to listen to the conversation happening on the other side of the table between the Shepherd and others since Mal wasn't overly chatty, when Shepherd Book asked, "Captain, mind if I say grace?"

Mal replied gruffly, "Only if you say it out loud." Katia looked up to stare at Mal with wide eyes. She didn't consider herself to be a religious person, but she would never try to be rude to those that are. The Captain met her eyes for a moment before looking down at his plate to start eating. After a moment of silence, those that prayed started eating so Katia did as well.

"So, does it happen a lot," Simon asked to break the awkward silence. "Government commandeering your ship, telling you where to go?"

Mal responded, "That's what governments are for, get in a man's way."

One of the other passengers, who Katia vaguely remembered was named Dobson said, "Well it's good, if the supplies are needed."

Jayne gruffly replied next to her, "We're just happy to be doing good works." Katia rolled her eyes at that. Somehow, Jayne didn't strike her as the overly charitable type.

Dobson continued, "I hear a lot of the border moons are in bad shape. Plagues and famines…"

"Well, some of that's exaggerated, and some of it ain't. All those moons, just like the central planets, they're as close to Earth-That-Was as we could make 'em: atmosphere, gravity and such but," Zoe explained.

"Once they're terraformed, they'll dump settlers on there with nothing but blankets and hatchets and maybe a herd. Some of them make it, some of them…" Mal faded out when he noticed the discomfort on Katia's face. _Must be from a border moon_, Mal thought. Simon jumped in to keep the conversation going, "Then I guess it's good we're helping."

While the conversation on the other end of the table continued between Kaylee and Simon, Mal leaned over and asked Katia, "You settling in alright?" Katia turned to face the Captain and replied with a nod. "This ship's beautiful. One of the best I've traveled on."

"You do a lot of traveling," Mal asked, trying to get a bit more information on the mystery passenger. Katia nodded again before mumbling, "More than I'd like."

Just as Mal was about to reply, the pair heard Jayne say, "Little Kaylee just wishes he was a gynecologist." Katia almost choked on her food, and Mal immediately tried to shut Jayne up.

"Jayne. You'll keep a civil tongue in that mouth or I will sew it shut, is there an understanding between us?"

Jayne almost whined, "You don't pay me to talk pretty. Just because Kaylee gets lubed up over some big city –"

Growing irritated, Mal dismissed Jayne from the table. Jayne left in a huff after grabbing more food from the table.

After a beat of silence, Simon jumped in to ask, "What do you pay him for?"

Mal seemed startled. "What?"

Simon repeated the question, "I was just wondering what his job is, on the ship."

"Public relations." Katia chuckled at Mal's reply. She knew that what they were doing on Whitefall was not strictly legal based on the conversation she overheard between Mal and Wash. She guessed at this point that Jayne was some kind of gun man or something like that.

The meal seemed to wind down after that. Everyone started clearing their plates, and Katia offered to help with the dishes to thank them for the meal. She and Kaylee stayed back while everyone else went about their business.

"So," Katia started, turning to Kaylee, "how'd you get to be a mechanic on a ship like this?" Kaylee smiled. "It's a funny story actually. The ship was docked in my home town and the mechanic before me was pretty A-grade _nan zi han_, if you know what I mean." Katia giggled and nodded. "Well, anyways, we was rutting something fierce in the engine room when Cap interrupts, goin on about how they'd been stuck for longer than they wanted cuz of some broke engine part. I explained that the engine wasn't broke since the part wasn't needed anyway, and Cap offered me a job on the spot. Been with them ever since."

"That's great. The ship seems well taken care of," Katia complimented Kaylee. Kaylee replied, "Well, it's pretty easy to take care of. Ain't no place like Serenity."

They had finished the dishes so Katia decided to head back to her room for the night. When she did, she heard Dobson talking in his room as she walked past.

"They're here," she heard him say. "Should be no problem getting them into custody. Crew might put up a fight, but we'll take 'em all in anyway." Katia couldn't stop the gasp that escaped through her lips. Dobson looked up quickly. Before she could run away, he grabbed a hold of her arm. "How much did you hear?"

Katia couldn't form any words when she noticed the gun in his other hand. All she could do was shake her head. Dobson seemed to panic a bit before saying, "Doesn't matter. You're all going in anyway. Gotta make sure you don't warn them though."

Dobson flipped Katia around so her back was held tightly to his front with the gun held firmly in her sight to remind her not to do anything stupid. He moved her forward towards the cargo bay. As they got closer, she heard Mal and Simon talking to each other. Dobson pushed her to walk down the stairs.

"You're a lunatic," Simon breathed out while holding his cheek. Mal replied, "And you're a gorram fed."

Shepherd Book, who had just arrived in the cargo bay, noticed Dobson holding Katia, and said, "Hate to say it, Captain, but you've got the wrong man."

Katia watched Mal and Simon analyze Book for a moment before they followed the Shepherd's gaze to her and the fed. Dobson quickly shifted his gun from pointing at her to pointing at Mal, although he tightened his grip around her, so she was still stuck with him.

Seeing Katia and Dobson, Mal sighed out, "Son of a bitch."

Dobson proclaimed, "Drop that firearm, Captain Reynolds." Captain looked at Katia being held against the agent. After a quick calculation to see if there was any way he could fix this, he dropped his gun. "This is not my best day ever."

After Dobson was satisfied that Mal would not interfere, he turned his gun to Simon and said, "Simon Tam, you are bound by law to stand down." Katia's eyes widened. _What if he knows about me too?_

Mal looked surprised. "What? The doctor? Oh… Hey! Is there a reward?" Despite her precarious situation, Katia rolled her eyes at the Captain. The federal agent had a gun virtually to everyone's head and he was thinking about money.

Dobson ignored Mal and yelled, "Get on the ground. Get on the ground!" Katia couldn't tell if Dobson was deliberately tightening his hold on her or if he just forgot she was there. Either way, it was getting harder for her to breathe as his arm moved closer to her throat.

Simon tried to reason with the agent. "Lawman, you're making a mistake."

Mal jumped in. "I think you oughta get on the ground, son. Man seems a mite twitchy." Shepherd Book recognized the discomfort on Katia's face and stepped in. "I think everybody could stand to calm down a bit."

The gun was quickly turned towards the Shepherd. "This isn't your business, Shepherd."

Book continued trying to diffuse the tension while Katia was trying to figure out a way to wriggle herself free from the obviously panicky fed. "The boy's not going anywhere, Lawman. And neither is she. As I understand it, it's pretty cold outside."

Mal added, "Not to worry. We can hold Lord Fauntleroy in a passenger cell – won't make a peep til you hand him over to –" As he said this, Mal went to reach down for his gun.

Dobson saw this and moved the gun right back to Mal. His anger was showing as his arm grew tighter around Katia's throat. While Dobson was shouting about how everyone on the boat was culpable, Katia tried to claw her way out of his grip.

Mal stated calmly, "Well now. That has an effect on the landscape." Katia was finding it harder and harder to pay attention to everyone as her vision started getting spotty from the lack of air. Suddenly, a shot rang out and Katia turned to Kaylee to see her hit the doorframe and slide down to the floor with blood gushing from a wound on her stomach. After that, chaos exploded in the engine room. Katia elbowed Dobson in the stomach to finally free her from his arm, and Shepherd Book quickly knocked him out. He knelt down to grab the gun and asked Katia who had collapsed to the floor to catch her breath, "Are you alright?"

Katia nodded and coughed, not able to speak yet. Book left a moment later to make sure Jayne didn't kill the lawman. Katia was on all-fours trying to catch her breath. _Definitely going to have a bruise,_ Katia thought with a grimace. Everything was so loud, people were shouting all over the place. Then she heard Wash call down, "Captain, we've been hailed by a Cruiser. Ordered to stay on course and dock for prisoner transfer." Katia looked up to watch the group in fear. _They can't dock. I can't let them see me. _She listened as Simon leveraged Kaylee's gunshot wound to force Mal to turn the ship around. Katia felt a flash of relief before it immediately melted into guilt. Kaylee's survival was still very much up in the air and here she was feeling happy that she wasn't going to get caught.

Shepherd Book and Jayne moved the unconscious lawman into his suite. Katia finally caught her breath and sat up. _Let's not do that again._ She slowly made her way to standing against the railing before she felt comfortable enough to head to the kitchen. Her throat was in desperate need of some tea.

A few moments of sipping the hot beverage loosened up her throat muscles even further, although she knew the bruising would be showing already. As Katia left the kitchen to head back to her room, she noticed Jayne looking in on the med bay from the observation window and walked up to him.

"I figured you'd be takin' revenge out on the_ dà tuó dà biàn _by now," Katia said to get Jayne's attention. He snorted without looking at her.

"Shepherd thought I'd be a might too rough with him."

"And that's a bad thing why? He shot Kaylee and damn near choked me to death too," Katia nearly growled out that last part, causing Jayne to look up at her.

"That's gonna be one hell of a bruise."

Katia mumbled, "I've had worse." Somehow, Jayne heard that.

"Really now, pretty thing like you. What worse have you got," Jayne asked. He then pulled up his right sleeve to show a raised scar along his shoulder ridge. "This here I got from an actual arrow on a backwoods moon. Hadn't seen bow and arrow used since, well, ever before got shot with one."

Katia recognized Jayne's real purpose to distract himself from his obvious worry for Kaylee and smirked. She's been through a lot in her short life and definitely had the scars to prove it. She shifted her hair to the side and leaned back so Jayne could see the puckered skin of a burn behind her ear. "This is from the barrel of a laser gun just after it fired. Don't ask me why they didn't have a cooling device on it that's supposed to be standard cuz I really don't know."

Jayne countered with a spear wound to the shin. Katia had a gun shot graze on her right hip. Jayne showed his own gunshot wound on his back shoulder ("and it actually entered me too"). Katia shifted her pants up to show the long, thin scar running down the side of her left leg from a racer collision.

They were both running out of scars to show off, but the trading of wounds and stories helped lighten up the mood in a dark and twisty kind of way. After Jayne showed off a rather impressive knife wound on his stomach, Katia reached for the bottom of her shirt to show off the last one.

"Whoa now, what're ya doin'," Jayne asked. In his experience, there was only two reasons a woman takes off her shirt in front of him, injury and sexy times.

Katia snorted. "I'm showing you my last scar." Her shirt was pulled up and over her head, leaving her in her bra. She pointed to a wide and ragged circular scar right on the top of her left breast. "This is where I was literally stabbed in the heart." Jayne's eyes widened, struggling to stay focused on either the scar or her face. Trading scars and stories gave a Jayne a growing respect for Katia and as natural as it would be for him to check out the rest of her, for some reason he wanted to treat her the way he'd treat Zoe (so he only took a quick glance before focusing again).

"How'd you survive that?"

"Good timing and a lotta luck. The blade was wide but short, caused a lot of surface damage but thankfully didn't mess with too much stuff underneath."

Before Jayne could ask another question, a throat was cleared behind the pair. They turned quickly to see Mal watching the two.

"Captain, we were just…" Mal cut off Jayne's explanation with his hand. "What you two were doin' is your business." He turned to Katia then. "Realized you haven't met the last person on our ship. Thought you might like to now."

Katia realized she still had her shirt off and quickly pulled it back on. She grabbed her tea and stood up to follow Mal. "Lead the way. Thanks for the stories Jayne. You'll have to tell me more about how you won Vera later."

Mal and Katia walked away then and neither would ever tell anyone about the smile they saw on the mercenary's face as they walked away.

…

Mal led Katia over to one of the pods that flanked the cargo bay. He walked right in after a quick tap on the door. Katia waited at the door, feeling incredibly awkward about barging into someone else's space.

"What have I said about knocking?"

Mal replied, "I knocked. I just didn't do the waiting afterwards. This here's our last new passenger. She had a bit of rough time with that fed. Was wondering if you had any oils or something to help with bruises."

"Of course. Where is she?" Katia took that as an invitation to step into the pod. Turning the corner, she froze.

"Ina," Katia whispered. Inara's eyes widened as she realized who was standing in front of her.

"Kitty," she replied with tears quickly filling her eyes. The two rushed towards each other and pulled each other into a tight hug. They knelt down to the ground as both were overwhelmed by their reunion.

"So I take it you two know each other," Mal said after a moment, breaking the sounds of sniffling and sobbing. The pair loosened but stayed on the ground holding each other.

"We met at House Madrassa. I was her trainer for a time before she graduated and went out on her own," Inara explained.

Mal looked down at the mystery passenger who only seems to bring up more questions the more he gets to know her. "So you're a companion then?"

Katia cleared her throat and said, "Retired actually but yes, I was. Is that a problem?"

"No, no problem," Mal replied. "Just wanted to make sure we didn't have another reason to get pulled off course in the future." Inara rolled her eyes.

"Mal, if you don't mind, I'd like to get reacquainted. It's been a few years since we've seen each other."

Mal held his hands up in surrender. "Don't mind me."

"Alone," Inara replied pointedly.

"Fine, fine." Mal headed back towards the door.

"Oh, Mal," Mal turned back around to meet Katia's gaze. "If there's an update on Kaylee, could you send someone to let us know? I know I'd appreciate it and I'm sure Inara would too." Inara gave a nod in support.

Mal smiled in response and agreed before leaving, closing the door behind him.

Inara waited a moment before she turned toward Katia. "_Mei-mei_, let's get that throat dealt with."

Katia nodded and moved to the lounge area where Inara quickly set out her materials and got to work. It was silent but comfortable as the two settled into being near each other again. Inara finished up and leaned back to look at her.

"Where have you been Kitty? I haven't heard from you in months, haven't seen you in person in years. What happened?"

Katia began to tear up so she looked away quickly. "I fell in with the wrong crowd, trusted the wrong people. It all finally caught up to me." She looked back at Inara, who met her eyes with love and sympathy, and thankfully no pity. "I guess I didn't remember your lessons too well."

Inara smiled softly and leaned over to wrap Katia in a comforting hug. "What's done is done, _Mei-mei_. I'm just glad we've found our way to each other again."

Before they could say anything else, shouting was heard from the cargo bay. They both quickly made their way to the cabin door and ran down the stairs to join the crew.

Jayne had Simon in a choke hold as Mal sped over to the large silver box that accompanied Simon on to the ship.

Ignoring Simon's protests, Mal flicked open the latches and turned to the pair. "Let's see what a man like you would kill for."

Everyone watched with baited breath as the smoke cleared to reveal a young girl.

"Huh," Mal, and everyone else, was frozen. Inara took off her wrap with the intention of giving it to the young girl. Jayne loosened his hold on Simon in his shock, and Simon stepped forward.

"I need to check her vitals."

Mal snorted. "Is that what they're calling it?"

"She's not supposed to wake up for another week. The shock could –"

"The shock of what, waking up? Finding out she's been sold to some borderworld baron? Or, I'm sorry, was this one for you? Is it true love? Cause you do seem –"

Everyone jumped when the girl shot up from the box with a shout. She crawled her way out of the box onto the floor where she curled in on herself. No one else made a sound.

Simon ran over and knelt down to comfort her.

"River… hey, it's ok. It's ok. It's ok, I'm here."

Katia held her breath.

"Simon. They talk to me. They want me, they want me to…"

"No, they're gone. They're gone, they're gone. We're safe. We're safe now, I'm here." As Simon comforted River, Katia grabbed the forgotten wrap Inara held and moved forward. She offered it to Simon, who took it with silent gratitude and wrapped it around River.

"What the hell is this," Mal broke through the quiet.

Simon met his gaze. "This is my sister."

Another moment passed.

Katia cleared her throat and twitched silently when all eyes turned to her. "Why don't we let the doc check over his sister and get her settled, then get an explanation when he's done?" She met Mal's gaze directly and held it for a beat. "If that's alright with you, Captain." A quick nod was her only reply.

Simon slowly guided River to stand and escorted her forward towards the infirmary while the crew trailed behind. Inara pulled Katia to her side and held her tightly. They paused for a moment while Katia caught her breath. The two joined the group as Simon finished with River.

"I, uh, I'll stay here and watch over these two if that's alright. In case something happens," Katia nearly whispered. Inara gave her one last comforting embrace before she joined the others in the mess.

The silence in the infirmary was nearly deafening. Katia sat in the corner and sought comfort in the soft breaths coming from Kaylee and River, both asleep across the room. She took a moment to gather her thoughts. When Mal had stepped in for her in the alleyway, she had thought fate had thrown a gift into her lap. A way off the planet with a relatively respectable crew and a captain who didn't mind less than ideal payment? Seemed too perfect. And now that it's been all of a day, it turns out she was right. Being threatened, held at gunpoint, caught between fights that weren't entirely hers, Katia wasn't sure she was up to the excitement Serenity seemed to hold.


	3. I've Found Serenity

After Simon shared his story with the crew, the discussion grew loud before everyone disbursed with very little decided. Inara brought Katia back to her shuttle where she shared some of her clothing and the two lay down together. They exchanged stories from their time apart and eased each other's minds from the previous tension. That is until…

"This is the Captain." Both sat up as they listened to Mal's voice over the intercom. "We're passing another ship. Looks to be Reavers. From the size, probably a raiding party." Katia's eyes widened in fear and saw it reflected on Inara's face. "Could be they're headed somewhere particular, could be they already hit someone and they're full up. So, everyone, stay calm. We try to run, they'll have to chase us. It's their way." Inara reached over and grabbed Katia's hand tightly. "We're holding course. They should pass us in a minute, we'll see what they do. Zoe, you come on up to the bridge."

Inara barely breathed as she reached underneath her bed and pulled out a painted box. Katia glanced inside and saw a syringe. Both knew what it was, and both were hoping it would be unnecessary.

A silent eternity passed before Mal's voice extended over the intercom again. "All clear." They let out the breath they were holding. Katia laid back down and found her eyes closing with exhaustion. The near constant surge of adrenaline she'd been dealt with had finally left her, taking all of her energy with it.

Inara hid the syringe again and sent her sleeping friend a gentle smile.

…

When Katia woke up later, it was quiet. She turned to see Inara reading next to her. "Ina, I'm sorry I fell asleep on you."

"It was no trouble, Kitty. You clearly needed it." Katia noticed how peaceful the ship was and sent Inara a questioning look. "We touched down on Whitefall a little while ago. The Captain and a few others have some business to deal with and then we'll be on our way."

Inara didn't quite meet her gaze when talking about the crew's business. Katia smirked. "I know Ina."

"Know what," Inara quickly replied.

"I know that what they're doing isn't strictly legal. I overheard Mal and Wash talking when we first got on."

Inara barely hid her shock and said, "And it doesn't bother you?"

Katia shrugged. "Why should it? At one time, what we did wasn't looked at with regard. I can't exactly judge someone doing what they feel they need to, to survive."

Wash's voice came on over the intercom. "REAVERS. Reavers incoming and headed straight for us. We are in the air in one minute."

Inara and Katia ran out of the shuttle when not a moment later, they heard gunshots. They watched as brief gunfire was exchanged between Simon and Dobson before Mal and company walked on board. Mal took one look at the situation and shot Dobson in the face. Inara barely covered her shriek of fear. Katia hardly reacted at all.

Mal and Jayne dragged the lawman's body off the ship while Zoe set the doors to close. "Wash we're on."

Everyone seemed to scramble once the airlock engaged. Mal, Zoe, and Jayne ran up to the engine room, Simon and Shepherd Book ran to the infirmary, and Inara ran after Mal. Katia stayed frozen on the catwalk above the cargo bay. She soon saw Inara leading Simon and River up to the shuttle.

"Mal's given us orders to gather here. If we're boarded, we lock up and leave."

"He told us to leave them?" Inara nodded but said nothing. They all held on tightly while Wash and Kaylee worked together to hopefully get out of this mess.

After nearly getting knocked over breaking atmo, Katia breathed yet another sigh of relief when Mal announced, "We're good, people."

Simon gently grabbed River and moved her towards the shuttle door. "Let's get you to sleep."

Once they left, Katia watched Inara shut down the shuttle. "What do I do now?"

"What do you mean," Inara asked.

"Simon and River are obviously not getting off Serenity any time soon. Not quite sure what Shepherd would do, but he doesn't seem to be in any kind of hurry to leave. I know I never said I would get off next stop, but I don't have enough money to commit to an unending trip. Are we even still going to Boros?" Katia had started pacing during her speech, getting increasingly frantic.

Inara stepped in her path and grabbed her shoulders. "_Mei-mei._ Stop. Breathe. It's going to be alright." Katia nodded along while Inara tried to calm her down. "Why don't you talk Mal? As pigheaded as he is, he has moments of occasional thoughtfulness. You might get lucky, after the days we've had."

Before more could be said, Shepherd Book knocked on the door. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt."

"It's no problem. I was just leaving anyway," Katia went to leave. "Would you happen to know where the Captain is?"

"I believe he was on the bridge." Katia exchanged a grateful nod with Shepherd Book and headed out.

As she approached the crew quarters, she saw Zoe dragging Wash down the stairs to their shared bunk. She heard Simon and Mal talking quietly on the bridge. Katia was just going to wait until they were done, but Simon spotted her near the stairs.

"Speaking of wounded, Katia." Simon waved her up. She hesitantly climbed the stairs onto the bridge. "Let me take a look at your wounds. I'm sorry I didn't check them sooner. Obviously, a lot has happened since we've been onboard." He gave her a small smile, waiting for her permission before he gently lifted her chin.

Mal looked on as Simon put her through a quick check up. "There doesn't seem to be any lasting damage, although I imagine your throat is rather sore. These bruises should fade on their own soon, so I recommend staying hydrated and only speaking when necessary for the next few days."

Katia nodded with a smile. "Will do, doc. Thanks."

"Did you need something, Katia? Or should I say Kitty," Mal asked with a smirk. Simon looked confused while Katia just gave an exasperated sigh.

"I guess you noticed that, huh?" Mal nodded. "I was really young when I first met Inara. I was in a new place with new people so I would try to find small corners and squeeze in as much as I could. Inara would constantly have to find me curled up like a cat so it stuck."

"Seriously," Mal asked.

It was Katia's turn to smirk. "Nope. Katia, Kat, Kitty. It's really not that special." The three shared a small laugh together. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to you for a second, Captain."

That sobered Mal up a bit. "About what?"

"I, uh, wasn't quite sure what the plan was going forward. I'm guessing at this point, I'm the only passenger who doesn't really have a use right now, and definitely the only one who hasn't proved they should stay," Katia started.

"Are you goin' to get to the asking at some point," Mal stated matter-of-factly.

"What?"

"I'm assuming you're leading up to asking to stay on with us, although you were taking a ways to get there."

"I, uh, yeah I was. I don't have a lot of money though so I'd understand if you need me to do something to earn my keep," Katia offered.

Mal looked at her thoughtfully for a moment. "What do you have to offer?"

Katia paused for a moment. "Well, as you know, I was trained as a certified companion before my retirement. As such, all of my training can be at your disposal."

"I'm not sure how useful that would be for us day to day, unless you're offering something else…" Mal raised his eyebrow.

Katia's face twisted in disgust. "You know nothing about companions."

"Is that supposed to be an insult," Mal asked Simon, who had been watching the exchange. Before he could respond, Katia continued. "Beyond our more obvious training, we're taught many ways to protect and defend ourselves. I can shoot fairly well, although I prefer knives, I can fight, mostly defensively, and I'm willing to train for anything I'm lacking."

"Are you asking me to hire you," Mal seemed surprised.

Looking the most confident she's been since she stepped on to Serenity, Katia nodded. "Yes."

"Alright then." Mal turned back to the windshield. Katia glanced from Mal to Simon and back. "That's it?"

"Yup. Figured we'd test you out on our next job. Nothing like a trial by fire."

"Oh, well then. Um, thanks," Katia smiled at Mal as he continued to pilot the ship.

"Welcome to Serenity."


End file.
